Guide to Costa Express

Costa Express is the self-service version of the Costa brand, provided in petrol stations and shops across the country. They are the biggest supplier of coffee machines to forecourts in the UK.

Their machines offer five varieties of hot drinks, with strong branding inside and outside the building. Their widespread use allows a large number of petrol stations in the UK to be classed as a full service station by providing the key requirement of serving hot drinks with very low running costs. As well as being faster and cheaper than waiting for a barista, for the customer, a Costa Express order can be easily combined with another shop purchase.

Costa Express was launched following Whitbread's purchase of Coffee Nation in March 2011. Coffee Nation was already widely seen across motorway service areas, providing coffee machines within petrol forecourts and WHSmith outlets, having effectively introduced the idea to the UK. They were also seen at most A-road service areas.

The purchase was a landmark moment as, when Coffee Nation first started, a brand like Costa would not have wanted to be associated with machines or petrol stations. Now, customers were open to the idea, and it was key to Costa widening the reach of their brand.

Welcome Break had been very loyal to Coffee Nation, and their use of Costa Express allowed them to boast that they were the only operator to use both of the UK's main coffee brands. This changed in 2018, when they switched to Starbucks on the Go. Other operators still have a strong allegiance to Costa Express, often offering several machines in different shops.

Locations

Costa Express can be found across the country. The following sites stick out for having Costa Express machines without an accompanying Costa Coffee outlet: [view on a map - Download KMLrefine search]

• Baldock (A1(M)/A1)
• Barton Park (forecourt only) (A1(M))
• Beaconsfield (M40)
• Cobham (M25)
• Gretna (forecourt only) (A74(M))
• Old Inns (forecourt only) (M80)

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